Why do the same EYA townhouses costs half in Hyattsville,MD (Fairfax: violent crime, mortgage)

[fairlaker]

Median household income in Hyattsville is about $45K. In Merrifield, it's above $70K. The meaning of "worth every penny" changes depending on how many pennies one has.

Hyattsville is about equally divided between whites, blacks, and hispanics. There is a significant gay/lesbian community. In Merrifield, it's about 55-5-5, with most of the balance (30%) being Asian.

It has meanwhile long been a rule of thumb that the same house in Fairfax County will sell for twice what it will in PG County. Draw your own conclusions, but there are a lot of reasons for it, some of which involve the significant advantage in "amenities" that Fairfax has over PG on account of the income differentials. Better schools, parks, libraries, playgrounds, rec centers, cultural venues, shopping, restaurants, public safety and so on help to form a positive feedback loop that tends to draw higher income folks west of the Potomac. That drives home prices up, much to the delight of developers.

As an aside, it might be worth noting that there isn't an actual "Arts District" in Hyattsville. That's an EYA name made up by their advertising people in hopes of attaching their brand to good vibes emanating from the fledgling Gateway Arts District that community types along the DC-PG border have been trying to promote, this in pursuit of a development-through-bohemianism strategy of the sort that has grown up from the work of Richard Florida and others. Don't laugh. It has a pretty good track record.

The name thing is of course true for "Mosaic District" as well. It's just a made-up EYA marketing label. Historical accuracy would have deemed "Hodge-podge District of Depressingly Run-down Light Industrial Trashlands" a much better call there, but it doesn't have quite the same cachet or curb-appeal.

[FindingZen]

Also don't discount the fact that the preponderance of jobs in the Metro are located in Northern Virginia. While Montgomery County MD has its fair share of employment opportunities, Prince Georges County MD - including Hyattsville - is sorely lacking in comparison.

[fairlaker]

The "jobs" vector may in large part already be subsumed into the "income" vector. Blue-collar, hands-on work versus white-collar, think-about-it work. Either way, I think EYA is doing a good job of producing, positioning, and branding its communities. I'm not seeing Pulte/Metro-West as keeping pace there, for instance.

[AnalyzeThis]

That is funny because one of my younger coworkers purchased at the Hyattsville location. He is single with no kids. That area is as others have said,less desirable than Merrifield.

[Matt2789]

Simply Put:

If money is not an issue for you move to Merrifield, VA as it is already a much nicer area with nice amenities already in place.

If you'd like to live in an up and coming area with great potential (and a shorter commute to downtown DC) then check out Hyattsville and the other closer in towns along the "Route 1 Gateway Arts Corridor" for a fraction of the price of the above mentioned area.

Only time will tell what everyone is speculating about future home values for each area when it is finally time to sell. Should be fun for someone reading this archival thread in a decade or so.

[VRE332]

Here are the Fairfax vs. PGC homicide maps

http://burgersub.org/comparisons/pri...rgesmdcomp.htm

All murders in Fairfax City and County, VA 2005-2012

[stpickrell]

Originally Posted by VRE332

Here are the Fairfax vs. PGC homicide maps

Murders through Sept. 30th in Prince George's County, MD 2005-2013

All murders in Fairfax City and County, VA 2005-2012

Actually it looks like Hyattsville itself isn't bad, but ... (1) it's surrounded by some terrible areas and (2) the schools are OK for elementary but not so great for MS/HS.

Looks like Bowie is a pretty decent place, though. I wonder if they'll redevelop Old Bowie.

[Matt2789]

Originally Posted by VRE332

Here are the Fairfax vs. PGC homicide maps

Murders through Sept. 30th in Prince George's County, MD 2005-2013

All murders in Fairfax City and County, VA 2005-2012

Thanks for sharing this. From comparing the maps it appears as if where I live in PG county is much safer than a number of areas in Fairfax county (especially considering no murders have occurred in at least 5 years near me).

[JD984]

Originally Posted by Matt2789

Thanks for sharing this. From comparing the maps it appears as if where I live in PG county is much safer than a number of areas in Fairfax county (especially considering no murders have occurred in at least 5 years near me).

There has been good news on the crime front in both Fairfax and PG recently, as these two articles indicate:

Fairfax County crime hit another record low in 2012, statistics show

The Sentinel

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by Matt2789

Thanks for sharing this. From comparing the maps it appears as if where I live in PG county is much safer than a number of areas in Fairfax county (especially considering no murders have occurred in at least 5 years near me).

Murders in fairfax are 9 outta 10 times from domestic suicide/homicides, we had one in Vienna last year where a father murdered their son then killed himself.

I think that should be considered a separate crime personally, not that it detracts from the horribleness, but because it is not an indicator of crime in an area. That would be like calling an act of terrorism a murder in crime statistics; in Arlington in 2001 there would have been several hundred more homicides (instead of zero) in Arlington County had that been the case from 9/11.

Either way, I don't think it is accurate to say PG county in anyway has less of a crime problem as Fairfax, maybe pockets of one vs pockets of others but thats not an apple to apple comparison.